The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a brief, clinic-based smoking cessation treatment for an HIV+ population. We compared two treatments, a brief advice and follow-up plus nicotine patch treatment(Standard Care; SC) and brief advice and follow-up, nicotine patch, with the addition of a tailored motivational intervention and behavioral skills counseling for smoking cessation (Motivationally-Enhanced; ME), in a randomized controlled trial. We hypothesized that those HIV+ participants receiving the ME will demonstrate greater biochemically verified smoking abstinence rates at 6-month follow-up than those receiving the SC control treatment. All study participants were offered use of the nicotine patch.

Brief advice and follow-up, nicotine patch, and the addition of a tailored motivational intervention and behavioral skills counseling for smoking cessation.

Detailed Description:

Cigarette smoking is highly prevalent among HIV+ individuals, posing unique health risks, impacting HAART-therapy effectiveness, and possibly altering the course of the disease. To our knowledge, Motivation and Patch Treatment for HIV-Positive Individuals (Positive PATHS) was the first NIH-funded smoking cessation intervention designed to motivate HIV+ smokers to quit. Participants were referred by physicians at eight Immunology clinics in New England and randomized to receive either a brief, two-session intervention (Standard Care; SC) modeled on PHS guidelines, or a more intensive, four-session motivational counseling intervention (Motivational-Enhancement; ME). All physicians participating in the trial were trained in study eligibility criteria, as well as basic smoking cessation counseling strategies (based on the PHS guidelines). Interested individuals were then referred to the study, with a study researcher explaining the details of the study and obtaining informed consent. Participants were then assisted in completing baseline assessments via laptop computer, and then randomized to receive either a brief intervention (2-sessions) designed to reflect the standard of care in outpatient hospital settings and modeled on PHS guidelines (standard care; SC) or a more intensive (4-session) motivational counseling intervention (motivational enhancement; ME), with both interventions providing 8-weeks of nicotine replacement (patches; NRT) to those participants willing to set a quit date. Follow-up assessments, including biochemical verification of self-reported quitters (via carbon monoxide measurement) were conducted at 2, 4, and 6 months from baseline. This study is among the first to examine the health effects of a delivered smoking cessation intervention to an HIV+ population, with the results having implications for treatments in clinical care settings.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years to 70 Years (Adult, Senior)

Genders Eligible for Study:

Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Be receiving care for HIV at one of the participating immunology clinics

Be 18 years old or older

Be current (past 7 days) cigarette smoker

Speak English or Spanish

Exclusion Criteria:

Are pregnant or nursing

Have uncontrolled hypertension

Use other forms of tobacco like cigars or chewing tobacco or are using anything else to help with quitting smoking

Are allergic to the nicotine patch or have a skin condition like eczema or psoriasis that makes them unable to use the patch

Contacts and Locations

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To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00551720